Space Engineering & Technology

Solar Orbiter’s shield takes Sun’s heat

3 June 2014

ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission has undergone its latest major test: its protective shield has been subjected to concentrated sunlight to prove it can cope with the fierce temperatures close in to our parent star.

A ‘structural–thermal’ version of the craft’s sunshield was recently exposed to an artificial Sun for two weeks in Europe’s largest vacuum chamber at ESA’s Technical Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

The outcome ensures it will balance solar illumination, the cold of deep space and internal heat sources to maintain the perfect operating temperature.

Solar Orbiter, due for launch in 2017, sports a portfolio of instruments for in-situ measurements and high-resolution imaging of the Sun.